The Death of Stalin

The Death of Stalin by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, 119 pages.
Graphic Lit account of the days surrounding the death of the Soviet dictator in February of 1953. The book is based on actual events but focuses on the imagined words and actions of the Central Committee members Lavrentiy Beria, Nikita Krushchev, Antastas Mikoyan, Lazar Kanovich, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Malenkov, and Vyasseslav Molotov. The action is centered around the jockeying of Beria, head of the NKVD and a rapist and murderer on a evilly epic scale, and Krushchev to consolidate power. Marshall Zhukov, head of the Soviet army, is the key in the end. The graphic novel was the basis for the recently released movie of the same name. Kind of liked the movie better, but this was very interesting. Evokes nostalgia for a time when brutal, murderous thugs were considered our foes, instead of people whom we pathetically fawned over.